The internet is down
What the POS shows when it cannot reach the cloud (the amber line, the unsynced count, No network), what keeps working, what to check, when to worry, the 12-hour sign-in, and what happens when the line is back. On the Windows and the Android POS.
On this page
When the internet drops, the POS keeps selling. Every bill, dish and payment is saved on the device first and sent to the cloud after, in the order it happened. So the first thing to do when the internet is down is: keep serving.
This guide starts from what you see on the screen, says what it means, and what to do. The full list of what works and what waits is in What works without the internet.
What you see
- The amber line over the tables: the POS asked the cloud for the latest menu and got no answer. It sells from the menu, prices and table plan it already holds. The reason is in brackets: Cannot reach the server when nothing answered at all. On Android it says No connection to the server. Working from the cached menu. It goes by itself when the line is back.
- 3 unsynced, in amber: the changes made on this POS that the cloud does not have yet. It grows while the line is down and counts down to nothing once it is back. A 1 unsynced for a moment after each sale is normal.
- 🔄 Refresh: tries the cloud at once: the waiting work goes first, then the newest menu comes down. A tap on 3 unsynced does the same.
- No network, in amber, at the right end of the status bar: this device has no network at all (no cable, no Wi-Fi). When the device has a network but the internet behind it is down, the bar shows its addresses instead, such as Wi-Fi 192.168.1.31, and only the amber line says something is wrong.
You may also see:
| Where | What it says | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| The Paid screen | Saved on this POS, in amber instead of Paid, with Saved on this POS. It will reach the cloud when the connection returns. (Android: Saved on this device. It will reach the cloud when the connection returns.) | The payment is taken and the bill is closed on this POS. Nothing more to do. |
| A Sub or Waiter POS, the dot at the top left | Red, with Cannot reach the internet since 18:02, or Main POS T01 not reachable since 18:02 when it works through its Main | This POS lost the internet, or lost its Main POS, at that time. |
| A kitchen display | Offline since 18:02., in red | The screen lost the cloud. It says where new orders go meanwhile. |
| A function that needs the cloud | Its own sentence, such as Finding a member needs the internet, and this POS cannot reach the cloud right now. The bill can still be paid as usual. | That one function waits. Nothing half-done is left behind. |
What keeps working
Without the internet, the POS still signs people in with a PIN (and a password it holds), opens and closes shifts, opens bills, adds dishes, gives discounts and voids, sends kitchen tickets with Save & Fire, splits and moves bills, takes cash and card-terminal payments, prints bills and receipts, refunds a bill it took itself, and runs the day end at the Main POS.
What waits for the internet: vouchers, Member, iPay88, emailing a receipt, QR orders, bookings and the waiting queue, stock in and wastage, marking a dish sold out, handing a kept bottle back, some refunds, changing the menu on the POS, and pairing. Each says so in words when you try it. See the two tables in What works without the internet.
What to do
- Keep serving. Take orders and payments as usual. Do not close the POS, uninstall it or pair it again: nothing on it needs clearing, and the waiting work is safe on the device.
- Look at the right end of the status bar. No network means this device is off the network: check its cable, or its Wi-Fi in the device's own settings.
- If the bar shows an address (LAN … or Wi-Fi …), the device is on your network and the internet behind it is down. Check another device on the same Wi-Fi: if it cannot open a website either, restart the shop's router, or call your internet provider.
- If only one POS shows the amber line, and the others are fine, the trouble is that device's own connection: its cable, its Wi-Fi, or its distance from the router.
- When the line is back, press 🔄 (or tap 3 unsynced). The amber line goes, and the unsynced count counts down to nothing as the work goes, oldest first.
- Before the day end, let the unsynced count reach nought on every POS, so the day's figures are complete. See Unsynced bills before day end.
How long it can stay offline
FooodPos is built to ride out a dropped connection during service, not to run for days without the internet. Three things set the limit:
- The cloud's confirmation of a sign-in lasts 12 hours. A POS that reaches the cloud renews it by itself, for a PIN or a password the POS checked. A password the cloud had to check is not renewed. From two hours before the end the table screen says This sign-in expires at 18:30. Sign in again while you have a connection, or the queue will stop until you do. After it: This sign-in has expired. Sign in again — bills already taken are safe on this POS and will send once you do.
- A sign-in made offline is confirmed by itself once the POS reaches the cloud. Until then that person's work waits on the POS: Not sent: the cloud has not confirmed this sign-in yet. It does by itself once this POS can reach the cloud.
- Bills keep their own date for 7 days. A bill is dated when it was rung. Work that reaches the cloud more than 7 days later is dated on the day it arrives.
Shifts, day end and refunds are sent under the POS's own pairing, so they never wait for anybody to sign in.
Sub and Waiter POS
It depends on the Main POS's setting in the back office:
- Through the internet: each Sub and Waiter saves its own bills and sends them itself, as above. Its dot says Cannot reach the internet since 18:02 when its own line is down.
- On your own network only: a Sub or Waiter needs no internet of its own, only the Main. While the Main has no internet, the functions that need the cloud are refused in words on every POS of its group; orders, payments, shifts and the day end go on. If a Sub or Waiter cannot reach the Main itself, it stops with Main POS is not answering and Check that T01 is switched on with FooodPos open, and that this device is on the same network as it.
See When the Main POS has no internet.